How did June get here so fast?
June is a bittersweet time in the life of a teacher. We take deep sighs and look forward to summer vacation. We see just how much our students have grown.
Still we think about how much we'll miss these kids next year! Here are a few tips on how to make this June meaningful for us.
June is a bittersweet time in the life of a teacher. We take deep sighs and look forward to summer vacation. We see just how much our students have grown.
Still we think about how much we'll miss these kids next year! Here are a few tips on how to make this June meaningful for us.
Tip #1. Visit the classes on the grade level below you. Talk to the teacher ahead of time and plan to visit when they've been reading or writing for a long time. Then publicly say to the teacher, "Wow, your students have been reading for over 30 minutes! That's incredible. Can you do more?" Of course they will. Check out some of their writing and compliment them on their volume. Find anything that you can say about their work and how positive it is. That way, when they come to you in September and get tired after just a few minutes, or aren't writing so long, you can remind them, "Well I saw you in June, and you were doing so much more." Of course, kids' stamina and volume of work falls over the summer. There are some things you can do in September to build them up again, but a part of it is expectations. If you raise them, it will help them to achieve!
Tip #2. Look in the mirror at your teaching from the past year. Reflect on your practices.
What did these students teach you about your practices?
What will you carry over into your teaching next year?
What was your greatest success (or surprising success) this year?
What will you try differently next year?
Answer these questions in two parts. The first part should be an honest answer about what you did. The second part should be an action. What action will you take because of this reflection? Write it down in the form of a promise to yourself and your future students. Do it now, before you forget. September is so overwhelming! Use the answers to these questions as the springboard to the professional reading or conversations you might do over the summer (although you don't need to take that too far either! Make sure to relax!)
What did these students teach you about your practices?
What will you carry over into your teaching next year?
What was your greatest success (or surprising success) this year?
What will you try differently next year?
Answer these questions in two parts. The first part should be an honest answer about what you did. The second part should be an action. What action will you take because of this reflection? Write it down in the form of a promise to yourself and your future students. Do it now, before you forget. September is so overwhelming! Use the answers to these questions as the springboard to the professional reading or conversations you might do over the summer (although you don't need to take that too far either! Make sure to relax!)
Tip #3. Photocopy some of your students' work. Ask their permission. It will make them feel so important. It will allow you to have a collection of work that can be used as models for students in the future. Study the work up close, and see what things these students did in their writing that you never really noticed, and think of how you'll use it to teach your students in the future. So many times, we remember mid-year how well a certain student did something a long time ago, but we can't get our hands on it. Do it now, while you still can.
Tip #4. Look around at the physical layout of the classroom. Think about what worked, and what you'd like to change. You can't say that you won't change anything. Having everything the same every year is a recipe for burnout across a long career. Think about the charts you liked, and the ones you might change. Think about where your library and your meeting area are. Think about the configurations of your student tables. Think about how you handled procedures like classroom jobs, birthdays, and collection of homework. Change some things up, because that's one of the keys to longevity in this field!
Tip #5. Make collages of your classroom. During the last days of school, take your word wall words, your learning charts, your birthday poster, and anything else that's up on your wall, and have your students cut it all up, redistribute it, and create collages of what their year was like. It will make a nice souvenir of what the year was like, and it will keep you from being tempted to take this year's chart and just use it next year. The stuff on our walls is supposed to help our students become independent, but they won't use it unless it's meaningful to them. One key way to make it meaningful is that they should have a hand in creating it. You'll be amazed at how much more space you have, because you've gotten rid of lots of the clutter from the year.
There you have it. Some ways to make June a little bit different, and possibly more meaningful for you as you wind down one year, and head toward the next of probably many years in teaching kids!
RSS Feed
